How the mighty have fallen! As the West Indies were consigned to utter humiliation by the devastating Australian pace attack resulting in an eye-popping 27 all out in the second innings of the third Test at Kingston, it was a culmination of a disaster in the works for sometime.
For a team that has a huge legacy of world domination in Test cricket in the 1970s and 1980s when the Windies were world beaters led by their fearsome pace battery and some flamboyant, gum-chewing batsmen, the current state of affairs is the lowest they have ever been in, perhaps.
With Cricket West Indies (CWI) now calling for an emergency meeting in the aftermath of the developments in Kingston and three of their greatest batsmen invited to be part of the review meeting, it's time for stock taking for all stake holders including fans and well-wishers of Windies cricket.
There are several factors that ail West Indies cricket which has brought forth this disaster and the top of the pile lies their lack of seriousness towards the longest format of the game.
In the era of T20 slam-bang with finances dictating every aspect of how cricket is played, West Indies cricket has also fallen prey to the same prevailing trend where investments in lucrative T20 leagues has taken precedence over domestic First-Class cricket.
The last time the West Indies won a Test series was a 1-0 victory in Zimbabwe about two and a half years back and a home series win was almost three years back against Bangladesh where they clinched a 2-0 victory.
Calls Grow for West Indies to Rebuild Test Cricket Roots
Financial investments to grow the sport at the school level and U-19 and U-23 levels would be key alongside hosting First Class tournaments and it is upto the administrators in West Indies cricket to ponder over how they intend to revive the game in the islands.
The fact that they are a bunch of islands that involve a fair amount of travelling between them makes it challenging for organisers to host tournaments as it can be an expensive affair with not a lot of people willing to invest in the future of cricket and especially Test cricket.
In the last 25-30 years, apart from their two T20 World Cup victories in 2012 and 2016 and a Test match win against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane in 2024, West Indies have not played like a heavyweight cricketing nation they once were.
The legendary Brian Lara's record-breaking credentials in a way masked the inefficiencies of the domestic game in West Indies and unless significant investments are made at the age-group tournaments and school level with revival of Test cricket in mind, things could go further downhill. Test cricket badly needs a strong West Indies team to compete with the 'Big Three' on the field and keep the format thriving in the years to come.
